10 most intriguing games of the 2016 NFL season
From now through early February, there will not be another NFL-free weekend.
Hallelujah!
The NFL’s preseason is in the books, rosters have been trimmed, and teams are finalizing plans for the opening weekend. Do you know what that means? It means we’re just days away from the 2016 regular season and a horde of highly-anticipated games.
With that in mind, here’s a look at 10 of the most intriguing games of the 2016 NFL season.
10. New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals (Week 1)
Inter-conference games tend not to generate the same kind of hype rivalry games do, but when the Patriots and Cardinals square off in Week 1 of the regular season, there will be more than enough to make things interesting.
Both the Patriots and Cardinals lost in their respective conference title games a season ago, and both will be looking to start hot in 2016 as they aspire to return to their winning ways. Those expectations are staples of both Bill Belichick and Bruce Arians who are, arguably, two of the best coaches in football today.
But even beyond the battle between coaches, the Patriots and Cardinals sport two of the most talented rosters in the NFL. However, there will be one glaring absence that puts this game in the map.
Tom Brady will be suspended after dropping his Deflategate appeal, meaning Jimmy Garoppolo will make his first professional start. On the road. In Arizona. Against a very talented, very aggressive Cardinals defense.
“You get a rookie quarterback, it’s always exciting when you get a guy like that for his first game because he’s going to be nervous,” Cardinals defensive tackle Campbell told CBS Sports Radio in July. “He’s probably going to be sitting there holding the ball a little longer or trying to get rid of it quick, throwing bad balls.
“As a vet, we definitely pride ourselves on welcoming [quarterbacks] the right way.”
What a way to kick off Sunday Night Football!
9. Washington Redskins at New York Giants (Week 3)
During any other season, a Week 3 game between the Giants and Redskins wouldn’t be considered a must-watch for non-NFC East fans. However, here in 2016, the divisional rivalry offers a little something extra that football fans across the world will likely tune in for.
Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Josh Norman II.
The feud between Beckham Jr. and Norman rose to immediate fame a season ago when, during a Week 15 match-up, things went a little too far and became a little too physical.
Then with the Carolina Panthers, Norman managed to get into the head of Beckham Jr., causing an on-field outburst that ultimately led to a one-game suspension for Beckham Jr., as well as some hefty fines for Norman and some of his Panthers teammates.
Since their on-field shenanigans, the back-and-forth between Beckham Jr. and Norman has continued via social media and the press. Beckham Jr. has claimed Norman only followed him to the NFC East to remain “relevant,” while Norman insists Beckham Jr. is well known only because of his one-handed touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.
Bottom line? These two don’t like each other and because of that, it will be a tremendous show for the rest of us to watch when the two match up.
8. Cleveland Browns at Washington Redskins (Week 4)
Under normal circumstances, an early-season game between the Browns and Redskins wouldn’t register a hit on anyone’s radar. However, the sidebar to this match-up is enough to get blood pumping.
Robert Griffin III will return to Washington for the first time since the awkward divorce between the two parties, and you better believe he’s out to prove the Redskins made a mistake.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, RG3 went on to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and appeared ready to embark on a wildly successful professional career. However, repeated injuries and a souring relationship with Washington turned RG3’s career on its head, and his final days in DC were spent counting down to freedom.
Once that freedom finally arrived, Griffin III decided to take his talents to Cleveland, where they’ve been desperate to land a franchise quarterback for more than a decade.
Whether or nor Griffin III can be that guy remains to be seen, but he’ll have a chance to prove it early in the season. And what better stage to do it than FedEx Field in front of the very same ownership and the very same fans who completely gave up on him?
7. Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers (Week 8)
There will be no special sidebars or storylines when the Cardinals and Panthers meet in a rematch of the 2015 NFC Championship Game in Week 8. It will just be two NFL powerhouses going head-to-head in front of an electric crowd.
The Cardinals were embarrassed last January by the Panthers 49-15 in the NFC Championship Game. They had their Super Bowl dreams dashed and were sent home with their tail tucked between their legs.
The loss is not something that sat well with head coach Bruce Arians, so you had better believe this game is a date circled on his calendar. In fact, it’s a date likely circled on the calendars of several Cardinals players who truly believed the Lombardi Trophy was in their immediate future.
One such player is quarterback Carson Palmer, who had a woeful performance against the Panthers, including six turnovers.
“You can’t win a big game until you win it. We’ll revisit that when we get back to the NFC Championship Game and that will be that,” Palmer told ABC 15 in May. “You roll with the punches life deals you. A lot of good cards and a lot of bad cards and everybody’s different with the number of cards they get. I’ve been extremely fortunate and blessed to be where I am. I look forward to the challenge of getting back there and overcoming it. That’s how I feel.”
Although he didn’t use it as an excuse at the time, Palmer was dealing with the effects of a dislocated finger during that game. That will not be the case this time around.
6. New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (Week 2)
Any time Rex Ryan is the star of the show, entertainment is a near guarantee. And after his Bills defeated the Jets twice in 2015, there’s certain to be all sorts of excitement come Week 2.
Will Ryan bite his tongue leading up to the game or will he repeatedly remind the Jets he bested them only a year after Woody Johnson & Co. sent him packing? Either way, that uncertainty is what will build anticipation right up until kickoff.
For the Jets, they’ve now lost five straight games against the Bills and will be desperate to break that streak early in the season. If not, pressure will begin to mount and anxiousness for Gang Green fans will set in. That, of course, will only become compounded because of the aforementioned Rex Ryan factor.
Meanwhile, on Buffalo’s sideline, quarterback Tyrod Taylor will be entering his second season as the team’s starter, looking to prove he’s worth his new contract. And what better way to do that than with an impressive victory over a fierce divisional rival early in the season?
The Jets and the Bills will also square off in Buffalo in Week 17.
5. Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (Week 2)
Any time the Vikings and Packers square off it’s an anticipated contest. After all, the teams form one of the league’s most heated rivalries. However, when the two come face-to-face on September 18, the game will have a bit more meaning than usual.
The Week 2 matchup will be the very first regular season game ever played at U.S. Bank Stadium — Minnesota’s brand new and highly modernized $1.22 billion facility.
“[That game will] set the tone for the whole year,” Vikings guard Alex Boone told The Star-Tribune in July. “People say, ‘I’d rather go under the radar and show up at the end of the year. Why? You want everybody to know who you are right away. You want to be proud of that. You want to go into a game knowing what you can do. So I think for the expectation level, it just means we have to achieve it.”
Needless to say, there will be a lot of motivation for Minnesota to come out and put a mark in the win column, though that may prove challenging given the team’s quarterback situation following the season-ending injury to Teddy Bridgewater.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Packers will be hoping to take a page from Eli Manning and the New York Giants, who stormed the new Cowboys Stadium (now named AT&T Stadium) and came away with a 33-31 last-second victory in 2009. Manning later signed the locker-room wall with the message “first win in the new stadium.”
Regardless of the outcome, history will be made in Week 2. It’s just up to the Packers and Vikings to duke it out on the field to determine who gets the more positive end of the stick.
4. Houston Texans at Denver Broncos (Week 7)
It’s impossible to tell just how things will shake out between the Texans and Broncos come Week 7, but the overwhelming amount of dramatic sidebars will make this an interesting game to watch for all.
Peyton Manning is now retired, and rather than attempting to live in his shadow, quarterback Brock Osweiler decided to take his career in a different direction, signing a four-year, $72 million contract with the Texans.
It was a shocking contract for a player with only seven career starts, but even more shocking for Broncos Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager John Elway, who planned to move forward with Osweiler at the helm.
“We’ve stayed true to our philosophy of building a team with players who want to be Denver Broncos and want to be here,” Elway told the team’s official website in March. “That’s been a successful approach for us. While we did offer a very competitive and fair long-term contract to Brock, we ultimately had to remain disciplined while continuing to assemble a roster that can compete for championships.”
The pressure will be on Osweiler to not only prove his worth, but to do so against one of the league’s elite defenses — a defense that is most certainly aiming to put a hurting on their former teammate.
On the other side of the coin, there’s no telling who will be leading the Broncos’ offense into that game. Trevor Siemian enters the season as Denver’s starting quarterback. But by Week 7, our money is on rookie Paxton Lynch overtaking him as the starter.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (Week 15)
The Steelers and the Bengals. Who doesn’t love this gift of a late-season match-up between the two AFC North rivals?
We could have just as easily gone with their Week 2 game in Pittsburgh, but the reality is much more will likely be on the line come Week 15. So while the carry-over from last year’s bizarre wild-card game will have already been put on the table and dealt with, the second match-up of the season will likely have the playoffs — or even the divisional crown — at stake.
From a pure football standpoint, few things are better than two hated rivals, who are each known for strong defenses and violent physical play, going toe-to-toe. Following their wild-card game last year, which featured old school violence and a lot of back-and-forth, former Bengals quarterback and current CBS analyst, Boomer Esiason, called the rivalry “lunacy.”
“There is an intensity there that is bordering on lunacy,” Esiason told Cincinnati.com in February.
While some of the games have gotten out of hand, there’s no denying the overall entertainment value for those tuning in. And we wouldn’t expect Week 15 to be any different in 2016.
2. Seattle Seahawks at New England Patriots (Week 10)
By the time Week 10 of the 2016 regular season rolls around, quarterback Tom Brady should be back in uniform, playoff races will be taking shape, and for many teams across the league, it will be do-or-die time.
For both the Seahawks and Patriots, expectations are high. Each team should be well on their way to another playoff birth by November 13 and seeding will become paramount, so the battle in Foxborough will have quite a bit riding on the outcome.
The game will also represent the first time Seattle and New England share the same field since Super Bowl XLIX, which is arguably one of the greatest games ever played.
The only reason this game didn’t earn our No. 1 spot is simply because running back Marshawn Lynch is now retired. Had he remained in the NFL, the Week 10 match-up would have taken on an different meaning.
But even without Lynch, this contest features two of the very best teams the NFL has to offer, two of the best head coaches the game has to offer, and some of the most elite players in the league.
Needless to say, in the words of ole JR, Jim Ross, it’s going to be a slobberknocker. And we all win!
1. Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos (Week 1)
Was there a way any other game could have topped this list?
The NFL kickoff season is considered by many to be like an unofficial US holiday, or at least a gift from the football gods.
The regular season will kickoff with a rematch of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos on Thursday night. And while Peyton Manning will be watching the game as a spectator, that won’t make the contest any less exciting for those watching.
“We’re glad that it’s out,” John Elway, the Broncos executive vice president of football operations and general manager, told ESPN in April. “We knew who we were going to play and now we know when we’re going to play them. It’s always exciting to take that next step and look at the 2016 season. With the schedule coming out, that’s kind of the first step.”
Still reeling from a Super Bowl 50 loss, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera expressed excitement over the season-opening match-up, but was quick to remind his team they need to shine under the spotlight.
“It’s exciting for our players to compete on a national stage,” Rivera also said in April. “We have earned the right to be in the spotlight and we have to take advantage of it.”
As mentioned earlier, the missing piece will be Manning. However, as Super Bowl 50 proved, the quarterback position doesn’t necessarily have to steal the show to make things entertaining.
The elite Denver defense will once again seek to disrupt reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton, while Carolina’s defense will aim to tee off on whoever it is the Broncos send out there under center.
There really is no better way to kick off the NFL season.
